Apologies
by Fated-Shadows
Summary: The Files of Young Kindaichi. Hajime only wanted to get back on Miyuki's good side, but the universe was making it rather difficult.


**Title:** Apologies**  
Fandom: **The Files of Young Kindaichi  
**Pairing:** HajimexMiyuki implied, one-sided ReikaxHajime  
**Genre:** General/fluff  
**Rating: **PG  
**Spoilers: **Up to volume 12 of the manga  
**Warnings: **None  
**Summary: **Hajime only wanted to get back on Miyuki's good side, but the universe was making it rather difficult.  
**Notes: **This was requested by Kaoru, who prompted me with: "Miyuki and Hajime have a disagreement, and Hajime is trying to make up to her - but you know how hard girls are to please. ^_~"

* * *

"Really Miyuki, I wanted to come over, I just got hung up–"

"Hung up talking to your friends when we had plans!"

Hajime sighed, running his hand through his black bangs. "Well, I felt stupid telling the guys I had to go so I could study with you. You know studying isn't my thing."

This, obviously, was not the correct thing to say. Her voice went up a pitch. "We had _plans_!"

"Miyuki-chan, come on…"

Miyuki scowled at the honorific and placed her hands on her hips. Hajime felt his opportunity to win the fight slip away. She meant business now, and he had yet to find a way out of trouble once she'd gotten on a roll. He supposed he shouldn't have tried to be cute.

"My friends all think I'm crazy as it is, asking me why I hang out with 'Kindorky the loser,' but you won't defend me to your friends, is that how it goes?"

"Miyuki, come on, that has nothing to do with this. And I've defended you dozens of times to them."

She didn't seem mollified. "So the other day when Saki-kun told you that he'd gotten footage of our class after gym in the girls locker room, did you bother to stick up for the dignity of me and my friends or did you ask him for a copy of the tape?"

Hajime winced. He had a feeling she had been waiting for just the right moment in the conversation to pull out this bit of information. He _knew _the fact that he'd flaked on their agreement to study together the night before couldn't have been the only reason she was upset.

"I…well…"

She raised her eyebrows, arms folded, and tapped her fingers against her right arm as she waited.

"Okay, so…I guess maybe I should have said something to him…" He said quietly.

"Hajime!"

"I'll make it up to you, okay?" He said quickly. "This weekend, I swear, I'll make it up to you."

"Oh?"

"Definitely. I'll plan a whole day, we can do everything you like. It'll be entirely about you. To prove that I care about keeping plans with you and sticking up for your dignity."

Miyuki frowned. Hajime waited hopefully. Finally she turned, her dark hair whipping his cheek.

"Fine."

As she walked away, not looking as pleased with his offer as he'd hoped, he wondered if maybe he should have offered to destroy the copy of the tape Saki had made him as well.

* * *

Taking a deep breath, Hajime rang the doorbell. He shuffled his feet restlessly until the door opened and he stood up straighter.

"Oh, hello Hajime," Miyuki's mother said, smiling. "Would you like to come in?"

"Good morning Obasan," he replied. "Um, no thanks, I'll just wait here."

"Miyuki, Hajime's here!" Her mother called upstairs as Hajime shifted his weight and studied the floor.

Moments later, Miyuki came downstairs and emerged into the hall. She didn't look particularly welcoming. Hajime took a stab at conversation anyway.

"Hi Miyuki. You um…look nice."

When this didn't get any kind of response, he ventured, "Is that one of the sweaters you knitted? It looks really good."

She folded her arms over the blue yarn. "No, I bought this one."

Finally, something he could reply to! "Oh. Well, I couldn't tell, I mean you've gotten really good at knitting–"

"So basically you're saying I was terrible at it before?"

Hajime wished he could smack himself, except that the box he was holding made it physically impossible.

"No, I just meant, y'know, that you were only just learning before and–" He stopped, knowing by the darkening expression that he was getting nowhere, and held out the box. "I bought you cake."

"Planning to try to buy back my affection with sweets?" She asked. He, however, noticed a slight softening in her tone and silently congratulated himself on thinking of the candy angle.

"No, not at all," he said, handing her the small cake box. "I just thought that since today is going to be all about you, that you might like a special dessert for it."

"Really?"

"It's your favourite kind of cake," he added hopefully. She smiled a little, lifting the edge of the lid. Hajime brightened. A smile, that was a good sign! Until, seconds later, the smile vanished.

"Hajime…this cake has vanilla icing."

His heart sank. _No, it can't…_

"You've known me since preschool, you must know that my favourite kind of cake has _chocolate _icing."  
_  
The stupid bakery gave me the wrong box!_

"But I asked for chocolate," he said helplessly. "Really Miyuki, I know that you love chocolate frosting and that's exactly what I asked them for. They must have mixed up my order with another person's."

"Is that what happened?"

"Yes, definitely!"

Miyuki didn't look any more forgiving. He scrambled for a way to fix it. "I'll buy a new piece of cake, okay? You can come with me and pick out whatever kind you want."

"Hajime," she asked, "do you think that buying me things is really going to do you any good? Do I seem like a materialistic person who can be bought?"

At least the correct answer this time was clear. He hung his head. "No."

"Good." She handed the box to her perplexed-looking mother, and picked up her purse. "Let's go."

* * *

"So where _are _we going, anyway?" Miyuki asked as they found seats on the train.

Hajime tried not to look too pleased with himself. "We're going to the taping of a music video. A singer you really like is in the next city over this weekend to do the taping and she's putting on a small concert afterwards."

"I haven't heard anything about a concert in the area–"

"That's because it's being kept on the down low. It's invitation-only."

She looked skeptical. "And you're telling me you got invitations?"

"_And _backstage passes."

She looked over at him, impressed. "Wow Hajime, that's amazing. What artist?"

"That's a surprise, you'll see when we get there." He settled back against the seat, smiling to himself. He had triple-checked the details, there was no way of screwing this one up.

Not long after, the train pulled into the station and Hajime led the way out to the main road and down a few blocks to a small theatre. News vans and a Mercedes with dark-tinted windows were parked outside, security guards stationed at the door. They showed the guards their passes and were allowed inside, past a ticket-taking booth and into a wide room with a slanted aisle that ended at a rounded stage. The stage, obviously still being set up, was packed with backdrops and sound equipment. Someone holding a clipboard was barking orders over the voices of the workers.

"This is a beautiful theatre," Miyuki said. "Remember the Opera House Hotel we visited? It's smaller, but it looks more elegant–"

"Yeah, it's nice. Come on, we can go hang out backstage while they finish setting up," Hajime said, turning. Miyuki sighed and followed him. She'd have to let this one slide; Hajime had never had her interest in theatres and he was obviously excited to show her the mystery singer. She had to admit she was curious to see who it was.

They had to show their passes to another guard, and were allowed past a door into the dressing room, full of chattering people. Through the noise Miyuki heard the sound of a girl squealing, and one person pushed through the crowd and darted toward them, shouting, "Hajime-chan, you came!"

Miyuki felt her jaw drop as the young woman skidded to a stop and took his hand with both of hers, beaming at him. "I'm so glad, I thought maybe you wouldn't show up."

"Oh come on," Hajime said, his cheeks reddening. He rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand, making no move to take his right from her grasp. "I told you we'd be here."

The girl tilted her head slightly, her thick blond hair falling to one side. "We'd…? _Oh_, hello Miyuki-chan."

Miyuki slowly closed her mouth, resisted the urge to jab Hajime in the side, and stepped forward and smiled. "Hi Reika-chan. Hajime didn't tell me this was your music video…"

"Yeah, he mentioned something about surprising you. Are you surprised?"

"Very," Miyuki said.

Reika had already returned her attention to the young man. "So, I've seen your name in the papers a few times since we last saw each other, Hajime-chan. Still stumbling into mysteries, huh?"

"Reika! _There _you are." A woman wearing a dark suit walked up, looking exasperated. "Talk to your friends later, we're supposed to start soon and you haven't even got your hair done."

She sighed. "Okay Maiko-san. I'm sorry guys, I've got to get on stage soon for the video, but after the concert you'll come spend some time with me, right? I want to hear all about what you've been up to." She said this to Hajime, who still had a goofy smile on his face. Miyuki did her best not to scowl and answered for him.

"Yeah…sure. Come on Hajime." She grabbed his shoulder and pulled him away, breaking the spell.

"Oh, yeah, of course Reika-chan," he said as Miyuki tugged him toward the door. "Good luck!"

"Thank you!" Reika called back, waving to him.

"So did you like this surprise?" Hajime asked, looking a little confused as Miyuki hauled him down the hall to the seats, which were now partially filled with other invited guests.

"Yes, it was lovely. You obviously went through a lot of trouble."

"Well, we've got an inside with Reika-chan. It wasn't easy, but it was worth it for you."

"Mm hm." Miyuki let go of him and dropped into the nearest seat, folding her arms. "So, what was with the 'Hajime-chan' name?"

"Huh?" Hajime sat down beside her, his confusion deepening, and getting the sinking suspicion he'd screwed up somehow. "What do you mean?"

"She used to call you Kindaichi-kun, when did that change?"

"I don't know. I guess she's probably just too excited about the video to be formal."

"I see."

He fidgeted with the hem of his jacket. "Er…Miyuki?"

"Shh. The filming is about to begin," she said tersely.

He nodded and sank down in his seat. Yeah, he'd definitely screwed up somehow. He just wished he knew how.

* * *

Hajime held his hands under the motion-activated tap and rubbed them together under the water, rinsing the soap off. He straightened up, reached for some paper towels, and sighed at his reflection in the bathroom mirror as he dried his hands. Over the years he'd been shot, suspected of murder, kidnapped, and nearly burned to death among other things and yet today definitely qualified as one of the worst days of his life. Nothing had improved after seeing Reika at the theatre. Miyuki had sat through the show, tapping her foot, looking particularly irritated when Reika opened the concert with her hit song "I'll Never Give Up." He didn't understand, he'd always thought Miyuki liked Reika's singing. She had said very little while they visited backstage, and had seemed thrilled to leave.

After the show they had taken the train back and gone to get lunch, but Miyuki's favourite diner was closed for repainting. He had only realized this upon walking six blocks to get to it. Then he'd followed Miyuki around while she shopped, which seemed to cheer her up until he made that comment about the skirt making her legs look fat…  
_  
All I did was tell her the truth_, he thought, throwing the wadded up paper towels at the garbage can. _She shouldn't ask for my opinion if she doesn't really want it!_

At least dinner had gone okay. Until he spilled his udon soup, and, while trying to clean it up, splattered Miyuki's sweater with it.  
_  
I guess it can't get much worse. Unless a car runs us down on the walk home or something_, he thought, leaving the bathroom. Miyuki was waiting beside the hostess' counter.

"Did you get your sweater clean?" He asked.

"Sort of. It'll need professional cleaning."

He nodded, staring at the floor. "Ready to go?"

"Yes."

"Okay." He held open the door for her on the way out and followed her silently. She made no attempt at conversation as they walked, and they were about halfway to her house before Hajime decided to try one last time.

"Miyuki?"

"Hm."

"Listen…I know today went horribly and you've got enough things to keep you mad for months now, but...for what it's worth, I'm sorry."

She stopped walking. "You are?"

He lowered his eyes. "Yes. I shouldn't have blown off our agreement to study together, regardless of what the guys said. My plans with you were more important than some teasing. And I should have told Saki he was a jerk for taking that video. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings, I just didn't think. I'm really…really sorry."

She was silent. He turned to keep walking. _Guess that was the best I could have hoped for. At least she didn't smack me._

Then he felt something wrap around his arm and looked to his left in surprise to see Miyuki had linked their arms and – more shockingly – she was smiling.

"Miyuki…?"

"Hajime-chan, that's all I wanted."

Suspicious, wondering if it was a trap, he asked, "What?"

"I didn't want things or gifts. I just wanted an apology, that was all."

Hajime, confused: "So, wait…you mean all I had to do was say I was sorry?"

"As long as you said it from the heart."

"So you're not mad anymore?"

"Not about that. Though, you do have to pay for me to get my sweater cleaned."

He nodded. "Of course. Um, did I mention I was sorry for that, too?"

Miyuki laughed. "Yeah, you did."

"Okay, I just wanted to make sure you knew."

She took a step forward, still holding his arm. "Come on, I'm tired."

He allowed himself to be pulled forward, and a few minutes later asked, "Hey, what did you mean, you're not mad anymore about '_that_?' Is there something else I've done wrong?"

"No, there isn't. That came out wrong, there's nothing bothering me. You're safe," she said quickly, her cheeks reddening. There was no _way _she'd tell him how she felt about Reika fawning over him.

Hajime was confused, but didn't argue, and decided to just enjoy the walk home. He didn't want to say anything that might cause her to let go of him.

* * *

**Notes:** All friend/familial terms are taken from the manga. Reika's had a crush on Hajime since volume 3 and the song she sang was written and directed at Miyuki, her "rival" for Hajime's affection, in vol 12. Of course Hajime, being clueless as he is, knows nothing about this rivalry. xD Miyuki's normally a nice girl, but hey, the prompt said to make her hard to please! (And she does know how to yank Hajime's chain. x3) All she wanted was a heartfelt apology, is that too much to ask?


End file.
